Overheard
by mistressofthepink
Summary: Eric sticks to the shadows while Tara and Pam share their concerns about the future.


Eric walked out of his office door in Fangtasia where he had just finished some heated telephone calls with the remaining ranking members of the vampire hierarchy.

As he rounded the corner, Eric saw his progeny and his grand-progeny. He wasn't quite sure about her yet, or what to call her, since there hadn't been much time for conversation, much less bonding, in the past week.

Backing up a few steps due to the position of the two woman. They sat next to each other, looking forward. It wasn't awkward in itself but they were holding hands silently, at a loss for words. Pam appeared shell shocked, no doubt at the abusive behavior he had aimed at her earlier in the night and Tara seemed in a struggle to find words to comfort her.

It wasn't that Eric wished to see his progeny in pain and he despised being the cause of it. But it was necessary. He had to push her away to keep her safe. It was working rather well, if his pain was any indication. Being apart from her was far more difficult than he had anticipated. There was no one to tell his plans, to be his sounding board or his voice of reason. Lying to his greatest confidant had not grown easier throughout the years, no matter how much he had been forced to do so.

"It's bullshit if you ask me." Tara decided to go with the here's-my-opinion approach.

"Which I didn't." Pam interjected heatedly.

"Why do you stick around? There s nothing for you here anymore. This bar is as good as ash. They're gunna burn the place to the ground with us in it or not. And Eric is-" She seemed to pause, most likely from a stern look Pam shot her ,"not exactly the happiest girl scout."

There was a deep sigh before Pam replied. "It wasn't always this way. You never got to see the other side of him. He pulled me out of a life of filth and despair and taught me what is was like to really live - a life worth living that is."

"Are you sure you didn't-" Tara seemed to struggle with the words, knowing that if they came out too harshly, Pam would go on the defensive "-romanticize him just a bit? Like when girls think their exes are so amazing and they never should have broke it off with them but then when they go back they realize what assholes they always were."

"No. Well, I don't know." Pam heaved a sigh. Eric took a step closer, giving him better visual on the two vampires. They must be reeling with thoughts and emotions to cloud their senses from his presence.

"I thought I knew him. I thought, well, I thought a lot of things that didn't end up being true I guess." Her hands ran through her hair before clutching the back of her neck and massaging the tension from it.

"You said we could run away, live in the wind. Let's do it. I know I said this was our home but home isn't feeling too cozy right now."

"I can't just leave. He needs me." But even Pam couldn't muster the same level of conviction her voice usually held when speaking of her maker.

"Does he? All he's asked you to do is get out of the way." Tara reasoned.

Pam opened her mouth to retort but closed it again, shaking her head before covering her face with her hands. She seemed to be struggling between defending the life she knew and accepting that it was dead. She was both unwilling to change and determined to make something better for herself and her progeny.

"What is it, Pam?" Tara's voice had softened considerably. "He's gunna do what he wants anyway. There's nothing you can do and you've proved that there s no showing the man reason." Her hand gripped her maker's shoulder "So, what is it? I know you love him but-" She was poised to make a declaration but seemed to think this wasn't the time, "what about us?"

Pam's eyes rimmed red but she squeezed her hands together tightly, dropping her head "Tara, I hope that you never know what it's like to love someone so much just to find out that you aren't _good enough."_ Her shoulders shook slightly before Tara's arm was over them and pulling her in.

"Shit, you're more than enough for me." she smoothed her maker's hair, placing her chin atop Pam s head as Eric had done so many times in the past. A look of anger flashed behind her brown eyes that Eric could only assume was directed at himself.

The urge to come through the door and tell them both how wrong they were was overwhelming but he knew it would only cause more trouble than help. In moments, the emotional energy between the two would dissipate and his presence would become clearer to their senses. If he wanted them to remain safe then the best thing to do was stay away. If Pam was frustrated with his lack of connection and Tara was constantly there to back up that theory then there was a chance of them leaving town all together.

Though this thought caused him a pain so deep in his heart that it made him feel nauseous, he knew that this was their greatest hope for survival. It wasn't pretty and it wasn't kind but it was effective and he had always fancied himself as a logical thinker, not an emotional risk taker.

Pam would understand. She would come to see reason in time. He had done his best. At least, that's what he told himself. She had to forgive him. In a few months or a few years when this war subsided, he would hunt her down. It didn't matter how long it took, he would seek them out and he would finally explain everything. Then she would recognize his lies and deception as stepping stones to a bigger picture. He would apologize for his harsh words and even colder attitude. He would take her hand and beg her forgiveness and she would give it to him. Because there was no other option. He couldn't allow himself to see any other outcome.

Of course, that was all based on the hope that he made it through. And that they did the same.


End file.
